June 15, 2015, 18:30 UTC+3Russian foreign ministry’s envoy for human rights, democracy and the supremacy of law Konstantin Dolgov is confident this "defective and vicious policy of blockade must be abandoned"

VIENNA, June 15. /TASS/. Kiev’s policy of blockading Donbas runs counter to the Minsk agreements on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, Russian foreign ministry’s envoy for human rights, democracy and the supremacy of law Konstantin Dolgov said on Monday, commenting on Kiev’s threats to toughen blockade of Ukraine’s south-eastern regions.

"The ongoing blockade runs counter to the spirit and the letter of the Minsk agreements and Kiev knows it perfectly well. We hope proper conclusions will be drawn and the situation will change. But international community must have its say," he said, adding he was confident this "defective and vicious policy of blockade must be abandoned."

The Russian diplomat said the unnatural restrictions the region is facing due to the Ukrainian government’s actions were "a violation of fundamental human rights." "Russia continues to carry the bulk of the humanitarian burden of assistance to Donbas while Ukraine is doing nothing serious in this sphere and continues to confine itself to shallow declarations."

Minsk agreements

The Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine comprising representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the OSCE adopted a memorandum on September 19, 2014 in Minsk. The document outlined the parameters for the implementation of commitments on ceasefire in Ukraine laid down in the Minsk Protocol of September 5, 2014.

Marathon talks between the Normandy Four leaders — Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko — in Minsk on February 12 yielded a package of agreements, which in particular envisaged ceasefire between the Ukrainian conflicting sides starting from midnight on February 15. Concurrently, the Belarusian capital hosted a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine.

A 13-point Package of Measures on implementation of the September 2014 Minsk agreements in particular included an agreement on cessation of fire from February 15, withdrawal of heavy armaments, as well as measures on long-term political settlement of the situation in Ukraine, including a constitutional reform and decentralization in Ukraine and the establishment of working subgroups as priority tasks.